'Christmas week was flat out': Busy festive period for traders in Cork city centre

There is unanimous agreement among publicans, retailers and restaurateurs that this Christmas was “very busy” with people making “a definite conscious effort to get out and enjoy themselves”.

Traders that The Echo spoke to over the weekend in Cork city centre said it had been a great Christmas, and all used variations of the phrase: “There was a lovely buzz around”.

Jeff Safar Hamidi, owner of Koto on Carey’s Lane, said his restaurant had been packed out most days over the festive period.

“It’s been a good Christmas, it’s been a long Christmas, we’ve had a great run, with everyone in good form, the last few days have been very busy, especially since the sales have started,” he said. “There’s a great buzz around town, it’s very positive.” 

A few doors up, Rodolfo Aguirre, owner of Café Mexicana, said his restaurant hadn’t necessarily been busier than last year, but had certainly been very busy. “Everybody was happy, and the people enjoyed being out, everyone was happy,” he said.

Around the corner at Dubray Books on Patrick Street, deputy manager Caoimhe Coleman said sales had been markedly up this Christmas.

“We noticed a big increase this year in people looking for recommendations for books, and taking our recommendations, which is really nice for us as booksellers,” she said.

“Christmas week was just flat out, we could barely keep books on the shelves, it was that busy.” 

Asked about sales of Cork books, she said Seán Ronayne’s book ‘Nature Boy’ had sold out completely, and ‘Atlas of the Irish Civil War’ had been a big seller, and John Creedon’s latest book ‘This Boy’s Heart’ had completely sold out, with more copies on the way.

In Golden Discs, Conor McCreevy said they had been up the walls but there had been, yes, “a really good buzz around the place”.

“Seeing the amount of families out buying records and turntables was really lovely, because I think it’s such a lovely habit to get into, I loved buying records in my adolescent years and growing up and getting turntables from my dad, and finding records that he owned.

“It’s really good that a shop like this is so accessible for people, they might find something random, or something they’ve been eyeing up for ages,” he said.

A big Irish seller this Christmas was Gurriers, a post-punk group from Dundalk, he said, with “every second person” asking for ‘Romance’ by Fontaines DC. Internationally, Taylor Swift was, of course, huge, as was the ‘Wicked’ album.

Assistant manager Helen McNamara said the biggest Cork seller this year was John Spillane.

“People were just really nice this year, they seemed to be all in such great form, and that really makes all the difference,” she said.

That was a sentiment repeated by Jason O’Sullivan, manager of the Liberty Grill on Washington Street, which was packed out for Saturday morning breakfast.

“It’s been very busy, right up to Christmas Eve, definitely up on last year, but there was such a lot of nice people out. Christmas Eve can be a very tough shift, but everyone was extra-nice this year, which helped make it all very pleasant.” 

Lynn Bradfield, manager of Quinlan’s Seafood Bar on Princes Street agreed.

“People have been in very good spirits, people are in very good form, so that’s always great.

“We’ve been very busy, as far as I know we were up a little bit on last year, so that’s good, thankfully,” she said.

In the Long Valley on Winthrop Street, a pub renowned far and wide for the quality of both its sandwiches and its pint, owner Peadar Moynihan said it had been a great few days.

“Lovely Christmas, lovely people enjoying themselves in the family atmosphere, they definitely got out and about, I think rather than shopping online, people made a definite conscious effort to get out and enjoy themselves and meet family and friends,” he said.

“It was definitely up on recent years, just a lovely buzz, a lovely Christmas feeling with people definitely of good cheer.”